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Frequently Asked Questions Retirement

Pre-Retirement

If your employer sends us your retirement records electronically, via the
Data Exchange Gateway (DEG), your account information for direct deposit will be
sent to us automatically. No further action from you is required. Otherwise,
include your request to receive your payments by direct deposit with your
retirement package. You can do this by submitting a letter or a Standard Form
(SF) 1199A with your application. You must get the SF 1199A, Direct Deposit
Sign-Up Form, from your financial institution.
Direct deposit is available to retirees residing in Canada but, generally, it
is not available to those whose permanent address for receiving payments is
outside the United States. However, retirees living outside the U.S. can arrange
to have their payments electronically deposited in a U.S. bank.

Your personnel office will verify with your payroll office that the deposit
to give you credit in your annuity for military service you performed after 1956
has been paid, or that arrangements have been made for complete payment before
you leave the agency's rolls.

You should apply to make a payment by completing a Standard Form 2803 if you
are covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). You should use
Standard Form 3108 if you are covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System
(FERS).
If you are within six months of retirement, you should submit your request to
make the deposit or redeposit at the same time you
submit your application for retirement. You can use a form or letter to do this.
We will notify you of any amounts due so you can decide whether or not to make
the payment. We cannot, however, authorize your regular annuity payments until
we have your decision about the payment.

If you want to waive your military retired pay to receive credit for military
service in the computation of your benefit, you should write the Retired Pay
Operations Center at least 60 days before your planned retirement. Send your
waiver to:
Defense Finance and Accounting Service
U.S. Military Retirement
Pay
P.O. Box 7130
London, KY 40742-7130
You can "fax" your request to 1 (888)
469-6559.
Suggested wording for your request is as
follows:
"I (full name and military serial number) hereby
waive my military retired pay for Civil Service Retirement/Federal Employees
Retirement System purposes effective (the day before your annuity
begins).I hereby authorize the U.S. Office of Personnel
Management to withhold from my CSRS or FERS annuity any amount of military
retired pay granted beyond the effective date of this waiver due to any delay in
receiving or processing this request."

Voluntary contributions are payments made to the retirement fund in addition
to the deductions that are withheld from pay. You can make these contributions
only if you are covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and do not
owe a deposit for a period of
time when deductions were not withheld from your pay. To make voluntary
contributions, you should submit a Standard Form 2804 to your employer.
You can make voluntary contributions in multiples of $25. Total contributions
cannot exceed 10 percent of your pay.
You can purchase additional annuity of $7 per year for each $100 of voluntary
contributions, plus 20 cents for each full year you are over age 55 when you
retire. By electing to take a reduction in the additional annuity, you can also
purchase additional annuity for a surviving spouse who may receive a benefit
after your death.
Interest is paid on voluntary contributions at the rate of three percent
annually until December 31, 1984. After that date, a variable interest rate is
compounded annually on December 31st until service ends or a refund is paid.
View the table of variable interest rates.

If you need to contact us before you receive your claim number, first contact
your former payroll office to find the date your records were transferred to
OPM. Your payroll office should provide you with the number and date of the
Register of Separations and Transfers. You will also need your Payroll
Identification Number.

You can use voluntary contributions you made while working under the Civil
Service Retirement System to purchase additional annuity when you retire or you
can withdraw the contributions in a one-time payment.
You can purchase additional annuity of $7 per year for each $100 of voluntary
contributions, plus 20 cents for each full year you are over age 55 when you
retire. By electing to take a reduction in the additional annuity, you can also
purchase additional annuity for a surviving spouse who may receive a benefit
after your death.
Most people want to withdraw their voluntary contributions in a one-time
payment. If the amount of the voluntary contributions, plus interest, is more
than $200, you can roll the funds into an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) or
other qualified retirement plan to defer income tax.
If you want to withdraw your voluntary contributions, you should submit
either a Form RI 38-124 or Standard Form 2802 with the statement in item number
seven, "I want only my voluntary contributions to be refunded to me." You can
get these forms from your employer. You should submit your request at least 60
days before your expected retirement.

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